Lododera
Lododera is a large Bird Wyvern currently unreleased in Monster Hunter, known to inhabit most areas. They can be encountered in all ranks, but are most prominently found in the Dunes. Physiology Lododera has a jet black coating with a greyish sheen on its wings, and a distinctively flat, armored, hammer-shaped head; unusual for a Bird Wyvern. The black coating is derived from trace iron particles in the air. It is capable of flight, but relies more on its two powerful hindlegs to propel itself through rough terrain. Typically, it keeps its wings retracted and close to its body, only extending them when charging foes to maintain balance. The Lododera also has a low center of gravity, making it tough to knock over when charging. Due to the iron particles on the creature, it has a high density, and is particularly susceptible to Pitfall Traps. It is for this reason that the Lododera avoids waterlogged regions on the map, and prefers to stay dry. Lododera has one subspecies. Abilities Lododera can charge a hunter with its dense, armored forehead, often with little consequence as the Lododera can shrug off injuries to its head. It is moderately fast in movement; slightly slower than a Yian Garuga, but capable of dealing sufficient damage through repeated charging and pecking. Lododera also have sufficient mastery over their bodies' internal magnetic fields - while this is not as pronounced as the Gougarf duo, they are shown to create repulsive shockwaves when threatened to shunt hunters backwards, and may exude a weaker magnetic field on hunters (known as the Status Effect Repulsion), causing all weapon attacks to be significantly slowed. This can be negated by grounding the weapon (i.e. crouching) for a lengthy duration, or sharpening the weapon with an Electromagnet. Rarely, the Lododera may take flight and charge the hunter while in mid-air; this can be negated with a Flash Bomb or a Dung Bomb. It also rarely sheds some of its iron dust, leaving a trap on the floor that can automatically inflict Repulsion on any hunters who walk over it. Behavior Lododera sustain themselves off a diet of smaller Neopterons and Temnocerans, and may prey off the young of Nerscylla, often with little consequence as their magnetic fields repel webbing. Against smaller Neopterons, Lododera simply attracts them over via the trace magnetic material within their shells. They tend to be fairly territorial, and fare relatively well against larger, more melee-oriented wyverns such as Tigrex by slowing their movement to a crawl and evading them, taking advantage of their natural agility, and will relentlessly pursue and injure, but not kill, other wyverns encroaching on their nesting areas. However, Lododera are more vulnerable to electrical interferences, and fare poorly against the Zinogre, in particular, as it can not only produce electrical discharge, but maneuver fast enough to outrun the Lododera. Attacks Normal State Lododera's signature move, Mag Shield, can greatly slow a Hunter with Repulsion. This can be removed with an Electromagnet (Combine Thunderbug with Whetstone), which works similar to the''' Whetstone', with a '''Whetstone' (albeit at half the speed of a normal use), or by simply crouching to ground the weapon for a short duration. #'Head Sweep:' Lododera rears its head from left to right/right to left and sweeps upwards in a slow advance, knocking Hunters upwards. May do so twice for heavy damage. #'Charge:' Lododera charges at a Hunter, and when close, may do a Head Sweep and interrupt the Charge. #'Stomp:' Lododera stomps at Hunters beneath it, doing medium damage. #'Tail Swipe:' Lododera turns 180 degrees and pummels Hunters with its tail feathers, knocking them over. #'Triple Peck:' Similar to a Yian Kut-Ku, Lododera bends downwards to peck at Hunters right in front of it, while doing a slow advance. #'Repel:' Small magnetic sands rise up around Lododera, and it creates a small repulsive shockwave that shunts nearby Hunters and knocks them over. Very low damage. #'Attract:' Small magnetic sands rise up around Lododera, and it creates a small attraction field that may drag Hunters close to Lododera. May follow up with #3 or 5 if not dodged quickly thereafter. #'Flying Charge:' Lododera takes off from the ground and dives the Hunter head-first. May land into a running charge. #'Mag Shield:' Lododera roars, and covers itself in heavy magnetic sands, which can cause Repulsion; significantly slowing attacks from any Hunters it in its vicinity. Enraged State An Enraged Lododera can be spotted by two signs: one, from the small magnetic iron dust that it always carries around it, and the more obvious sparks flying off from its hammer-like head, which now splits slightly to reveal a glowing yellow core. Its eyes will glow a bright yellow, and it moves and attacks significantly faster. In addition, it gains the following attacks: #'Head Slam:' May be preceded by #1. Lododera drops its head down rapidly, slamming onto Hunters below. #'Stomp and Jump:' Lododera stomps a few times on the ground, before leaping slightly forward and slamming down. #'Stomp and Flying Charge:' Stomp and Jump, but Lododera flies upwards and dives the Hunter instead. #'Repel +:' Small magnetic sands rise up around Lododera, and it creates a small repulsive shockwave that shunts nearby Hunters and knocks them over. If the Hunter was hit by Lododera recently, he/she can be affected from a longer range away. #'Attract +:' Small magnetic sands rise up around Lododera, and it creates a small attraction field that may drag Hunters close to Lododera. May follow up with #3 or 5 if not dodged quickly thereafter. If the Hunter was hit by Lododera recently, he/she can be affected from a longer range away. Trivia * Lododera is derived from two words: "lode", part of the word lodestone, which is a naturally magnetic mineral (also known as magnetite), and "dera", part of the Latin verb derado which refers to "rubbing, scraping, or shaving off". This refers to Lododera's behavior where it shears the excess iron dust off itself when idle. * When enraged, Lododera will levitate small rocks around itself. * When fatigued, Lododera's pecking attack slows to a halt, where it stops to pant briefly, while its magnetic repulsion attack is weakened to a stagger instead of a full knockdown. * Lododera are one of the smallest greater Bird Wyverns, at about the same size as a Yian Kut-Ku. * Being hit by an enraged Lododera doubles the range of their otherwise mediocre Repel/Attract abilities for a short period of time. Category:Bird Wyvern Category:Monster Creation